A Brief Review on Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Photo-voltaic (PV) devices such as a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) is a source of energy that converts incident photon or solar radiation to usable electricity. DSSCs are fast becoming a viable and interesting alternative to the traditional inorganic photo-voltaic devices to address the demerits of the inorganic PV devices like the use of expensive noble metals and high-cost chemical synthesis processes. A DSSC functions with two main components, i.e., a photo-sensitizer that absorbs incident light and a semiconductor onto which it is adhered to and a conductive glass housing such as Florine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) or Indium-doped Tin Oxide (ITO), between which the sensitizer, semiconductor and an electrolyte are sandwiched. The semiconductor is preferably a wide-band semiconductor, of which the commonly used semiconductors in a DSSC are made of a nanoparticle layer of Titanium dioxide (TiO2), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Tin oxide (SnO2). The utility of these solar cells with a diverse number of natural photo-sensitizers for use as an alternative PV device is described. Currently, there are an abundance of natural sources that could be used to obtain photo-sensitizers from, such as, micro and macro algae, plants, bacteria, etc. leading to increased importance in renewable energy sector and has gained traction to be a viable renewable energy resource. In addition to the functioning of an organic DSSC, various characteristics of the pigments used as photo-sensitizers are described here. Patents filed regarding eco-friendly and natural Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells have been increasing as of late and holds substantial promise.